General Disclaimer: there's no profit motive behind this, I own nothing except the OC's bound to turn up somewhere along the line, and this is produced for entertainment purposes only. On a side-note, there's a fair bit of back-story to this one, so it might - just might - turn into a full-fledged story at some point. I'm getting there. Slowly :D
It's the hair that catches his attention first. The golden spikes defy gravity, fluffed up like a chocobo's crest with attitude. With every movement, the sunlight hits it and it almost seems to shimmer.
Zack likes glittery things, and he kinda hoards anything he can get his hands on – has done since he was a kid and he found a rare silver-gold Touch Me. It's gotten him into trouble – and lots of it – but it's a habit he hasn't been able to break. Maybe it's connected to the trauma of being turned into a frog, some long repressed irrational fear.
Zack doesn't care enough to investigate, because if nothing else it makes life more interesting, and isn't entirely sure that he wants to know the answer.
That's what actually makes him drift into the training hall, though he's careful not to eyeball the blonde specifically. The Cadets don't really notice him at first – with the sergeant at the front demonstrating moves he's not surprised. The guy's a task-master, with all the personality of a broken record, and takes a maniacal glee from assigning toilet cleaning duties. But, if you have the patience and spine to grit your teeth and endure, damn does he know his swordsmanship.
When the demo finishes up, he exchanges a nod with the man, and it's then that the Cadets notice him. Several freeze up, a couple even drop their weapons. But that's fairly normal; the kids've only seen SOLDIER from a distance, and most definitely would never have met a First Class before now.
Most of them, he knows from his own trainee days, would have a fair heap of hero worship for them too. Maybe not for him specifically – that was more Gen's, Geal's and Seph's arena – but certainly for the concept of First Class, elite of the elite.
He gives them a friendly grin, and starts chatting with Mallory – interrupted only by Mallory's shout for the 'little-twits to fucking start hitting eachother dammit, what are you, princesses!?' – and gradually the Cadets start to fumble their nervous way through the Kata the Sergeant had just been demonstrating.
"You mind if I take a look 'round, Mall?"
The man's eye twitches, but that's as much of a reaction as he get's out of him.
"Go on, hedgehog. Both know you'll do it anyway." Come's the resigned reply.
He can't help the grin, claps the man on the back as he starts to circle through the sparring Cadets. More than half of them muck up just as he's passing, but he knows that's more nervousness than actual lack of co-ordination.
They relax a little bit as he gives advice here and there – corrects a stance, demonstrates how to hold the sword just a little higher or block just a little lower, and some of the boys even seem to be able to ignore him after he's gone round a couple of times.
Out of the corner of his eye, he actually takes the time to study the Cadet. Maybe fifteen, sixteen. He's slight – with a slim, compact build. Agile, quick. Chocobo-head will never be huge and muscle bound. But in SOLDIER, that doesn't really matter – what physical form held back, MAKO could improve. Just look at Gen, or Seph. Aesthetically, neither were moving mountains, but with their sheer strength and speed, it was actually something of an advantage to have an inborn predilection to being fast and agile in a fight.
He could attest to that with bruises and burns, despite his First Class promotion a few months ago.
The boy practices with a single-minded focus, and there's a flow to his movements that just screams prior experience, not matter how slow and cumbersome the Kata itself seems to be. Maybe not with a broadsword, because sometimes the Cadet over-extends before he can check himself, or moves too far forward. But that's not all that catches his attention now he's looking.
Unlike the other Cadets, Chocobo-head just doesn't seem to register him as a distraction. Oh the kid knows he's there – even automatically shifts out of the way when he walks back a bit to give the another pair some space as he observes. But Chocobo-head's rhythm doesn't even stutter when Zack walks past him, and studies the blonde's partner, who suddenly seems prone to clumsiness.
"Not bad!" He praises with a grin. Considering this is their first try, and the audience. "You've kinda got your foot stuck at the wrong angle, though." The boys stop trading blows as he walks into the black haired kid's personal space, and gently nudges the back-foot into a position slightly further back and straighter. "The reason the stance is like that is for stability, see?"
From the shell-shocked look in the kid's eyes, he could say that the sky was purple and Bahumet wore make-up - and the Cadet wouldn't even register it, just nod a little dumbly like he is now.
He draws the broadsword on his back, and inwardly shrugs off how the Cadets seem to stop even pretending to pay attention to the Kata's. It's just a standard SOLDIER broadsword, nothing fancy, but it also weighs more than your average man. To the Cadets, it's probably like he's walking around with half a pylon on his back.
More interesting is how Chocobo-head seems to reflexively tense, stance shifting back subtly to give maximum range of movement - ready to move at a seconds notice.
"Spiky, come at me with a high strike." He orders with a grin to soften the tone. The blonde looks at him a little doubtfully, but that's nothing compared to the stunned reaction of the other Cadets, or the one he expected. "Don't be afraid to put some force into it either, yeah?"
"If you are certain, Sir?" The voice is surprisingly soft, and deep for a kid his age. The rough accent is also thick – thicker than Zack's Gongangan had been when he'd first arrived in Midgar, even. He almost winces in sympathy – Gaia, Spiky must be teased mercilessly for that alone.
"It's fine, Spiky." He encourages. "I'm only gonna be blocking."
Chocobo-head seems to consider this for a moment, before making a movement so small it's almost the beginnings of a shrug.
That's all the warning he get's before the Cadet is suddenly lunging forward – just slightly too forward, to be practical for a longsword - twisting his body just so, and then there's a sword heading for his head fast enough to rival a Second's practice swing.
It's not fast enough to catch Zack out – he's not First for nothing – but Gaia does the speed and force behind the blow catch him unawares for a second. He catches the practice blade in a one handed high block, and has to concentrate not to automatically shift his stance in preparation to block another blow.
It actually feels unexpectedly irritating to not be in the right stance. He's bent a little backwards from where he's caught the blade at the perfect spot – provided you were centred correctly.
Ignoring the wide-eyed look to them, and putting aside Spiky's unexpected speed for the moment, he addresses the room at large.
"You see, when you're not in the right stance you're actually unbalanced. All it would take is a particularly hard blow, an opponent that's taller or stronger than you, and you'll get knocked back because your centre's off." He disengages, and notes how fluid the movement is when Spiky draws back. It's only ruined by how unwieldy the Cadet seems to find the practice sword.
Definitely previous training.
Mallory throws him a sharp look as the Cadets start to chatter, not realising that his keen ears can pick up it all, but the guy's definitely more interested in the blonde than he had been before. Small wonder – when doing the Kata there'd been flow to the movements, but the Kata itself had been off. Obviously new to the Kid. It hadn't made Spiky seem particularly skilled, at least.
Now the kid was striking in a technique that obviously wasn't, and the difference it made was phenomenal.
The blonde arched a silent eyebrow at him in question, something that made him smile before he could catch it – because damn, did that remind him of Seph – and he nodded.
"Ok, and again Spiky."
The Cadet explodes from stillness into motion, and this time he's prepared enough to study it even as he moves to block. The speed is definitely from experience: there's no lag, like when most learner's fight. That lag where the kids're thinking about moving, consciously applying the technique, rather than just instinctively moving with an awareness of technique. He's making best use of that wiry, surprising strength and natural speed.
Also, the kid twists his whole body into the blow, channelling not just the strength of his arms and shoulders, but his back and from forward momentum too because he just can't seem to resist stepping forward a little when he does it.
This time, it's not too far forward for a long-sword, and this strike is actually harder than the last one too – because it's taking better advantage of the weight of the practice sword. He's not surprised to see satisfaction in the kid's eyes when they disengage again, because if he can feel the difference then Chocobo-head can too.
"Good one, spiky." He praises genuinely, the grin stretching from ear to ear. Damn, kid's not just experienced – he's actively picking up and correcting flaws. "Do you see how this stance is more stable? I'm blocking but I'm not being pushed out of balance. This'll work against stronger opponents better, too." The class nod at him, and he's happy to see the glazed looks have actually been replaced by intent focus for most. " I'm even in a stronger position to put more force into a riposte or attack."
Spiky waits patiently for him to start withdrawing before pulling back, but the sword is kept upright and ready to guard – seemingly out of habit – stance neutral but easy to shift to either attack or defence.
"Easier to understand when it's seen, right?" He verbally reassures the black haired kid, and is more than happy to actually see a thoughtful look on his face. "You just have to practice and you'll find yourself doing it naturally."
The Cadet nods with renewed determination, and Zack's grinning as he turns away to patrol the class a couple of times more. Because that seed of unholy fire in a Cadet's eyes? That's the kind of stubborn, bull-headed determination that makes a SOLDIER.
But, he can't help thinking even as he walks out the door and takes in the class in a last glance, that Blonde was a shoe-in already if half of what he'd read from the kid was accurate.
So it's with a mental note on the name 'Strife' that he leaves, a bounce in his step.
